Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Your Favorite Blog Posts of 2015

It's fun doing year-end wrap-up posts. Not only am I reminded of posts from months back that I'd forgotten about, but looking at your blog purely from a numbers perspective, allows you to see what people really respond to. For me, it felt very reaffirming, because the stuff that you guys gravitated to--a combo of beauty, parenting, fashion, entertaining, home decor, and books--was the exact mix of this blog, so it feels like maybe, sort of, kind of that I'm on the right track? It also lets you pat yourself on the back a little. I constantly hem and haw over my traffic here (is it high enough? how can I boost my unique users?), so it's nice to remind yourself that there were in fact highlights. One of the posts below reached over 250,000 people on Facebook this year; another was featured on Today.com where it reached over four million (!!) in just a few days.I hope you enjoy looking at this list (and going back to read anything you may have missed) as much as I enjoyed compiling it. In descending order, from #10 to #1, here are the top ten most popular blog posts that appeared on The Sparkly Life this year. Have fun!10) Why Do We Care If Women Are Getting Their Hair Done After Giving Birth? - Remember when that story about women getting their hair and makeup done after having babies made the rounds? (And then, of course, it shamed them.) Here's where I tell people to mind their own business and let those women be.

7) Monday Wish List - A few of the fashion items I was lusting after at the time. (I ended up buying that blue-and-white wrap dress!)

6) The 3 A.M. Struggle Is Real - This was one of my favorite posts I've ever written. (I lost track of the number of people who told me they had tears in their eyes after reading it!) It's #6 on this list, but in a way, it's really my biggest post of the year, because way, way more people read these words than anything else I've ever written on this blog. That's because, soon after it was published here, it was republished on the Today show's Today Parents site, where a few days after that went up in March, I found out that it had reached over 4 million people there! And then, just yesterday, I got confirmation that it held its own all year, and ended up being one of Today Parent's most read posts of 2015. Definitely a highlight of the year for me. Still waiting for my call to chat with Matt and Savannah about it though... ;)

4)The Lazy Girl's Guide to Outdoor Entertaining - I love entertaining, but I'm super lazy. And this post showed that the two things aren't mutually exclusive! Here, I share how to throw an outdoor party for basically zero effort.

3) My Outdoor Space Transformation - I gave my drab, dreary outdoor space a major makeover with a few pillows and fun accessories--and I have the before and after shots to prove it!

1) "Why I Kept My Baby a Secret Until She Was Six Months Old"- Not only was this my most popular post of the year on the blog, but it was my most popular postof all time. By a landslide. It actually went semi-viral on Facebook, reaching nearly 280,000 people there. I was floored. If you missed it, definitely check it out to see why my friend Nadine had to keep her baby a secret for several months. I (and many others) didn't even find out she had been pregnant until after the baby was born! (I really loved this story and am so happy so many people got to enjoy it!)

So, that's it! Which one of these posts was your favorite? Or did one of your favorites not make this list? Tell me below!And P.S.: Here were your favorite blog posts of 2014.

The baby secret one is a bit insane! I understand why, but MAN! I don't know I would be able to handle NOT posting ALL over social media! I loved your patio transformation one and the 3am one. I need to read some of the others too!

These look like some great posts! I'm bookmarking this page so I can read each one when I can. Looking forward to reading them all! Hope you & your family had a great holiday and have an awesome new year! :)